Domingo López Torres (1910—1937) was a

Canarian Canary Islanders, or Canarians (), are the people of the Canary Islands, an autonomous community of Spain near the coast of Northwest Africa. The distinctive variety of the Spanish language spoken in the region is known as ''habla canaria'' (Ca ...

painter, writer, and poet. Born to a very poor family in

Santa Cruz de Tenerife Santa Cruz de Tenerife (; locally ), commonly abbreviated as Santa Cruz, is a city, the capital of the island of Tenerife, Province of Santa Cruz de Tenerife, and one of the capitals of the Canary Islands, along with Las Palmas. Santa Cruz has a ...

, he became an

autodidact Autodidacticism (also autodidactism) or self-education (also self-learning, self-study and self-teaching) is the practice of education without the guidance of schoolmasters (i.e., teachers, professors, institutions). Overview Autodi ...

and convinced

Marxist Marxism is a political philosophy and method of socioeconomic analysis. It uses a dialectical and materialist interpretation of historical development, better known as historical materialism, to analyse class relations, social conflic ...

, playing a large role in the development of revolutionary intellectualism in the

Canary Islands The Canary Islands (; ) or Canaries are an archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean and the southernmost Autonomous communities of Spain, Autonomous Community of Spain. They are located in the northwest of Africa, with the closest point to the cont ...

. He published incendiary articles in various labor publications, such as ''La Tarde'' and ''Gaceta del Arte''. Many of his writings linked

Surrealism Surrealism is an art movement, art and cultural movement that developed in Europe in the aftermath of World War I in which artists aimed to allow the unconscious mind to express itself, often resulting in the depiction of illogical or dreamlike s ...

to Marxism. In 1930, he founded the cultural, ideological, and political journal ''Cartones''. In 1935, he opened a

bookstore Bookselling is the commercial trading of books, which is the retail and distribution end of the publishing process. People who engage in bookselling are called booksellers, bookdealers, book people, bookmen, or bookwomen. History The found ...

- tobacconist's shop, which became a meeting place for the far

left Left may refer to: Music * ''Left'' (Hope of the States album), 2006 * ''Left'' (Monkey House album), 2016 * ''Left'' (Helmet album), 2023 * "Left", a song by Nickelback from the album ''Curb'', 1996 Direction * Left (direction), the relativ ...

of the Canarian political and literary elite. At the outbreak of the

Spanish Civil War The Spanish Civil War () was a military conflict fought from 1936 to 1939 between the Republican faction (Spanish Civil War), Republicans and the Nationalist faction (Spanish Civil War), Nationalists. Republicans were loyal to the Left-wing p ...

, he was one of the first to be apprehended. He was imprisoned at a

Nationalist Nationalism is an idea or movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the State (polity), state. As a movement, it presupposes the existence and tends to promote the interests of a particular nation,Anthony D. Smith, Smith, A ...

concentration camp in 1937. This overcrowded prison had been a former

Fyffes Fyffes plc ( ) is a fruit and fresh produce company. The Fyffes brand is most closely associated with the banana industry, although it is applied to a wide range of fruits and fresh produce, including the Fyffes Gold Pineapples, and Fyffes me ...

warehouse where bananas had been stored. He was executed by being wrapped in a canvas sack and thrown into the ocean.

Works

López Torres wrote two books: *''Diario de un sol de verano'' (1929); published in 1987. *' (1936); book of poetry; published in 1981

References

External links

Arrasaron la cultura popular
1910 births 1937 deaths Artists from Santa Cruz de Tenerife Writers from the Canary Islands Executed writers Marxist writers Spanish Marxists Communists executed by Francoist Spain Spanish people of the Spanish Civil War (Republican faction) Executed Spanish people People executed by Spain by firearm 20th-century Spanish poets {{Spain-artist-stub